


embrace me

by 1nterlaced



Category: Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-15
Updated: 2018-04-15
Packaged: 2019-04-17 03:05:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,493
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14179155
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/1nterlaced/pseuds/1nterlaced
Summary: this is an au!!rina's always hated going to the surface.





	embrace me

When she was younger, Rina had been afraid of breaking surface.

It started when she was forgivably young, back when the seven kingdoms were preparing for danger and Haruna, her adviser, toted her around in her human form on the surface to familiarize her with the area should they ever have to leave. Before then, it was a rare occasion when the princess went above surface. It was a kind gesture, meant to reassure the then prepubescent mermaid that it wouldn't be completely different from her kingdom- that this place would be able to replace the comforting emerald walls of the North Atlantic castle with its burning sun, humid air and strange-looking people.

Haruna was trying to be reassuring, and was usually a grounding force for her in trying times, but the hot flash of fear that came with leaving the water and painfully inhaling the crisp, empty air of the surface world had sent a shiver straight to the tips of her fins that took a long time to forget.  
But, duty calls. Despite her best efforts, there are unfortunately a small number of cultural ceremonies that require her presence as princess and holder of the green pearl above on land, even if they are rare- and Haruna, ever-prepared Haruna, is no stranger to rehearsals. No amount of hiding behind the throne in the grand halls would change that either, believe her. She had tried.

 

Slowly, she learns to handle the not-so-smooth transition from seawater to air and to ignore the chill that traveled down her spine when her feet- _goodness_ \- made contact with the ground. More time passes, and she matures, her coming of age ceremony passing her by in a whirlwind of heartfelt confessions and extravagant outfits. 

It's been four years since then, and now, she's been summoned to the North Pacific Kingdom for the biggest inter-kingdom celebration of the year.

 

The festival of pearl-song is an age-old tradition, said to have begun with the first of the seven kingdoms in an attempt to maintain unity within the seas-- there is nothing more wonderful, her adviser claims, than the sound of skilled mermaids singing for their countries. Quietly, she agrees. Despite the cultural differences that exist from sea to sea, music is the one thing that unites all mermaids. 

She agrees until she founds out exactly where it is that her fellow princesses expect to practice. 

Nanami Lucia, the princess of the North Pacific and a few months her senior (surprisingly) is a strange one. She is fun-loving, simple, and in Rina's eyes, Lucia does her best to live up to the youthful look to her without an ounce of effort. Her affinity for skinship is something that throws Rina off slightly, but she could get used to it. Hanon, the holder of the Aquamarine pearl and the princess of the South Atlantic, just south of Rina's own kingdom, is similarly touchy and almost annoyingly so.

Where Lucia is trusting, Hanon is youth, plucky and just as fun-loving- and only a tad bit more mischievous.

Together, they're a force to be reckoned with. And with Coco, princess of the South Pacific Ocean south of Lucia's kingdom busy organizing the events, they've been dragging Rina into their little schemes with the force of twin monsoons, all high-pitched voices and whining as to why she has to join them on their escapades.

This latest scheme, however, is something else entirely.

They pull her to the surface, grip tight on her arms in a way that she knows is both encouraging and a way to hold her back if she changes her mind. 

 

 _Please_ , _Rina- no one will know!_

_The frown on her face refuses to budge an inch.  Absolutely not._

_Hanon moves forward, puppy dog eyes fully equipped and ready to strike._

_It just seems inconsiderate to practice here- last time, we even interrupted Coco's preparations in the halls! She grins internally, noticing the sigh Rina lets out at that. It had been a bit of mess..._

 

_And what, do tell, are you planning to do if we're seen?_

_Rina's eyebrow twitches, her arms crossed tight against her chest. No way, absolutely not, nope._

 

_Lucia pops up. But when we practiced in the gardens, half of the advisers barely got anything done because they kept getting distracted by our singing!_

_Hanon whispers behind her, cheeks flushed a healthy salmon pink at the implications. At how good it was, yeah-_

_L_ _ucia nudges her not too quietly, and she turns back to Rina, innocent smile painted across her face._

 

 _I know a place on the surface that has no people nearby, and there are a few rocks we can sit on and just let loose without anybody overhearing!_ _It wouldn't be long at all. Promise._

 _Rina uncrosses her arms, looking up at the Hanon and Lucia, sporting twin smiles that are somehow supposed to make her feel better. She sighs, turning. Behind her, she hears the unmistakable sound of a not so subtle high-five. What is she getting herself into?_  

_Fine. But as soon as we're done practicing, we leave. Clear?_

  
_Crystal._

 

 

So they drag her up with them, and she watches the two of them break surface as if it's no big deal, taking in gulps of air she knows is nothing like the smooth, deep breaths of the sea like they've been doing it since the day they were born. She rolls her eyes, then, mind flashing to Lucia's mentions of a Panthalassa beau who lived on the surface. Of course, Hanon must've already gone with her. Typical. ( She refuses to admit she may have sheltered herself a bit- and only a bit- from the human world. )

Long locks of green float above her as she stares up at the surface, swaying slightly with the pulse of the nearing waves. The water here is unfamiliar to her, clear and bright compared to the deep, comfortable navy of the Atlantic, but it's still the ocean.

 

Lucia breaches above her playfully, and with a quick 'Come on!', she and Hanon pull themselves onto the smooth rocks of the cove with a decisiveness she envies. Rina gulps, and with a hesitant kick of her tail, her head is above water.

 

The sound of the waves crashing against the rocks is deafening, having been brought from a muted noise in the background to crashing against her directly, the waves pulling her hair as the sea breeze threatens to dry out her eyes within seconds, and she propels herself quickly to the rocks where Lucia and Hanon have perched themselves on like a pair of cheeky seals. If she hadn't been coughing the whole way in trying to, you know, breathe, she would have scoffed. 

Rina pulls herself up until only her tail fins are submerged, and turns to them angrily as she hears their giggles bubble up next to her. The angry blush on her cheeks is partially for lack of breath, and partially from her lack of grace. This surface business is too much. And for what- practice?

"Remind me why I listen to you?" She asks, dipping her tail in and out of the water as she practices the breathing exercises Haruna taught her. In, hold, out.

A pause, then a hesitant "You love us?" from Hanon. Rina sets to work putting her hair in a tight braid, her lips pursed as her hands work quickly. The rocks may be smooth, but she had heard tales of mermaids getting stuck and having to chop their hair off after letting it get stuck in coral. Best to be prepared. ( Ugh, she sounds like an adviser- )

She tries to stop her smile at that, but they catch it before she can school her facial features. Maybe. 

"Well. We came to practice, didn't we?"

Hanon smiles at her brilliantly, flashing the pearly whites of her rounded fangs and begins to warm up next to her, braiding her hair absent-minded as she runs through the first few verses of Ever Blue. Her braid is long and loose, and Rina realizes then how the aqua of her hair threatens to blend into the water surrounding them. Strange, considering it's not her ocean either.

  
Lucia joins in during the chorus, during which Rina decides to relax and just listen. She wonders if this whole going to the surface to sing was nonsense and no more than a thinly veiled attempt to get them away from the more than doting pink mermaids under Lucia's rule. They meant well, of course, but she did suppose the responsibilities of princess-hood felt just a little lighter above the surface.

The waves fold over into a small layer of foam against her tail, bright aqua glittering against the striking deep green of her tail. The sun hangs high above them, casting a warm glow that she admits she wouldn't mind more of in the North Atlantic.

 

 

Maybe this wasn't too bad of an idea.

 


End file.
